Public opinion on Haverhill community centre sought

Members of the public are being asked for their views about the future running of a community centre.

Leaflets with questionnaires have been distributed to homes on the Chalkstone estate about the proposed community transfer of the Chalkstone Community Centre.

There will also be a public consultation at the Chalkstone Community Centre itself, with members of the public being urged to attend to air their views on how the centre should be run and who should do it.

The consultation will take place on January 12 from 4pm to 6pm.

Paul turner is the pastor at the River of Life Community Church.

He hopes his group can take on the centre and continue to use it to the benefit of the community.

He said: “If it all goes okay, we will be able to take over the running of the centre.

“There would be some church activity services there. We also help REACH with some of their community schemes and the centre would help with that.

“We used to manage the centre about 10 years ago for six years. This would really be a way to help the community.

“The consultation is a good way of finding out what the residents and the wider public think of us running the centre and to see if there are any serious or major objections.”

Speaking about the proposed transfer at a meeting of the Haverhill Area Working Party in December, Councillor Tony Brown spoke of his hope that the community centre would continue to serve the public in some form.

“It would be nice to get the building used more,” he said. “It’s a massive investment for that community.

“I don’t know what the council’s rationale is for off-loading the community centre. It was built for a reason and that hasn’t changed.”